Ore-treating furnace



C. C. GBHVIES.

ORE TREATING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26. 1919.

Patent ed Sept. 26, 192 2.

LQSUAQ5,

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

JwvmM C. C Grimes.

C. C. GRIMES.

ORE TREATING FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED M,AR.26,1919.

1,430 45. ii p 2&1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2..

Patented Sept. 26, 1922.

niT-E. STATES CLAYMQN .0- earnas, nema. qALiEQaN e- -onnrnnarme renames.

Application filed .March.26,.1919. .iSerial No. 28,51,229. 1 v

T. 0 all/whom z'tmay concern Be it -known; that I, CLAYMON' C; GBiMns, a citizen of the United States, residing at Idria, in the county of'San-Benito. and: State of California,.have invented certain new and usefullmprovements in Ore-Treating fume being driven off. 1

A further object is to provide means-for feeding the ore through the furnace by means of which a great surface area. oft-he ore is exposed to the action of the; heat.

Another obj eet is to provide means whereby the mercury fumes are permitted to escape throughout the whole length ofa columnj of ore which isfed through the furnace,, thus preventing escape .of these fumes. being retarded by the ore mass.

F urther objects will appearfrom; the detailed description.

' Inthe drawings: v

Figure lis a flOnt away, of a furnace constructed in accordance with my invention.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional; view.

Figure 3 is a detail of, the fume collecting pipe. r

The furnace casing designated generally by 1 is preferably constructed of suitable refractory material, such as fire brick. This casing is provided, at its forward end, with a tire box 2 extending transversely thereof in which are positioned a plurality of spaced oil burners 3 communicating with a fuel supply pipe 4 positioned at the front of the furnace and having suitable control valves 5. A relatively small boiler 6 of suitable type is encased in the front wall of the furnace casing and is positioned in front of and closely adjacent the combustion chamber 7 so as to generate steam during operation of the furnace. This boiler communicates by means of a steam outlet pipe i p rtlyabr ke w thn dry. pipe which is con ecte to a-a itable gage,.10,;t is dry pipe also. er i g to. supp y steamt the burners v1 by. mea s of a steam supply 11. ,The combustion hambe Om Il I iQ lEB wit =1 plura ity o }i n;.thijs. case three main lines 12 which are inc ne up r lytan ire w rcl y o the f rnac a a ng e of appron in telyyfortyfive; degrees. -T.l l 6; main flues communicate at their upper endswith return flues l3 opening int a smok and. ust chamber ltwhich communicates with a, smoke stack 15. ;S.- .1-itab c ean-cu op ning .1- c m- H1LlnlQitl8wW lhhfth dust chamber at the lower nd thereon thes open ng being. m ly closed by removableplates 17 so as to permit ready cleaning out of the dust chamber.

A, retort pipe-l8 is niountedabove and in Para l sm, with sa main l n i pip beingenclosed by a, suitable casing 19' of tire brick ,or other suitable refractory ,materiaL, The lower end of pipe l8 is norma l-y l se by a lidabl Pla valve 2 which-maybe raised by means of a pinion L e e aoni s af -22tr tat bl i b ng bracket 23 secured, to; the front of the; fur-. nac e siasia hand W el-2 be ns ec r upon .onefend ofthe 'sl 1aft.- for convenience r a ns h s in A or re e ing 1 0p- -P ..:2 ,-'Wl i n mal y lose by" a suitabl cover .26, I i l'mounte up th upp end. ofv the. retort pipe and is positioned to re ei tore .dnah-eree fro a su t bin 27v p sitien d-abe e an n. rea 1 th if nace, this: bin being provided'with suitable perforations 30 which are arranged in staggered or zigzag order so as to insure that any fumes which tend to collect about the sates 0 dis harg iv e t w l lm w type. By thisi-nea-ns, the ore may be fed 1 dir t y fro the: him-int th re o vtr p he ;i ex-p se t t- 11 anio o tl e i 1 the furnace, this ore nass-being; in the; form of a relatively long cylindrical column so upper portion of said pipe will be drawn into thesame by the action of the take-off or suction fan which is connected to the fume collecting pipe in the known manner. The upper end of pipe 28 is inclined or beveled, and is closed, to prevent interference with ore entering the retort pipe from the hopper 25. A fume take-off pipe 31 extends through the top of the furnace and communicates at its lower end with the interiorv proximately one hour is sufficient, whereas the lower grade ores require, of course, a longer period of treatment. As the lower portion of the ore column is exposed most directly to the action of the heat, this por tion is first removed from the retort pipe, the upper portion of the ore column then moving downwardly by gravity so as to be exposed to the direct action of the heat and permitting a new charge to flow into the upper part of the retort pipe. In practice, the retort pipe is made of such size as to contain approximately two car loads of ore. After the ore charge has been exposed to the action of the heat of a furnace for approximately one hour, assuming that high grade ore is being treated, the plate valve 20 is raised so as to discharge the lower half, or approximately one car load, of the ore from the retort pipe. lhis causes the ore in the upper half of the pipe to flow downwardly by gravity so as to be thoroughly agi- 'tated'and stirred, this action servingto ef- "fectually prevent the mercury fumes from becoming stopped or pocketed in the ore mass so as not to be removed therefrom. Also, this downward movement of the ore mass with its ZLCCOIIIPEtIIyIII stirrlng and agitation thereof serves to efiectually liberate any fumes which may be confined in the mass of ore. The mercury fumes which are liberated by the heating operation readily flow upwardly into the collecting pipe from which they are removed through the fume takeoff 'pipe 31. As the ore is fed directly from the bin into the retort pipe, 1 effect a material saving in time and labor and, as this. ore may flow through the furnace in a continuous column, the capacity of the furnace is greatly increased compared to furnaces of known construction now used for this purpose.

It will be evident that there may be slight changes made in the construction and arrangement of the details of my invention without departing from the field and scope of the same, and I intend to include all such variations, as fall within the scope of the appended claims, in this application in which a preferred form only of my invention is disclosed.

What I claim is:

l. A furnace comprising a body having a vertically disposed flue and a retort chamher, the latter communicating at its lower end with the flue at an intermediate point and inclining upwardly and laterally therefrom, a retort pipe within the retort chamber and extending across the said flue, and

a perforated fume collecting pipe located within the upper portion of the retort pipe.

2. A furnace comprising a body having a vertically disposed flue and an upwardly and laterally inc-lined retort chamber communicating at its lower end with the flue at an intermediate point, a retort pipe within the retort chamber and extending across the vertical flue, and a fume collecting pipe located within the upper portion of the retort pipe and having longitudinal slots in its sides and the upper portion above the said slots perforated.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GLAYMON o. GinMEs.

l Vitnesses:

R. M. BROWN, G. E. GRAY. 

